Leeds Airlines Flight 3
'Leeds Airlines Flight 3 '''was a scheduled Leeds Airlines flight from Leeds International Airport (LIA) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG) involving a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400''NextGen ''aircraft that caught fire at Leeds International Airport on 7 October 2011, killing all 78 passengers and crew on board. The investigation is still ongoing, and the cause of the crash has not yet been formally determined. An interim report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on the same day of the crash revealed that the aircraft caught fire after suffering snapped propeller blades, which were ingested by the engines and caused them to catch fire. Flight 3 was the first fatal in-flight incident for Leeds Airlines in their history. It was also the deadliest crash in Leeds' aviation history (until surpassed by Havenair Flight 772 in July 2014) and the deadliest crash ever to involve a Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft. Aircraft The aircraft involved in the accident was a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400''NextGen, with manufacturer serial number 1101, registered as L-AXZC. This airliner first flew on 8 March 1999. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150 engines, giving it a cruise speed range of around 666 km/h (360 KTAS, 414 mph), at 27,000 ft (8.2 km altitude) and a range of 2,522 km (1,362 nmi). The aircraft underwent a major overhaul in August 2011, and at the time of the accident had accumulated 23,394 flying hours. Before joining Leeds Airlines in September 2007, it was with Lufthansa Regional on loan from Bombardier. It joined Leeds Airlines on 1 September 2007 as a trial aircraft for evaluation purposes, again on loan from Bombardier. Although the aircraft was later purchased outright from Bombardier, no further aircraft of the type were sought. Flight history At 0956 on 7 October 2011, Flight 3 departed Gate 12A at Terminal 1 at Leeds International Airport. The aircraft operating it, L-AXCZ, had arrived there at 0722, after spending the night in a hangar. This was it's first flight of the day. Following a delay due to poor weather conditions, Flight 3 lined up on the runway at 1022. It took off at 1024, and steadily rose through to 3,000 feet by 1030, and flew south over Leeds and out to sea. After Flight 3 took off, Leeds International closed due to poor weather conditions. Timeline of crash At 1032, the aircraft encountered severe turbulence, as it passed through the eyewall of Hurricane Ophelia. Shortly after, once the aircraft had got into the calm eye, the pilot reported insufficient power coming from the engines, and requested a return to Leeds International. It was given the all clear, and at 1035 began turning back, which would mean another flight through Ophelia's turbulent eyewall. At 1036, Flight 3 began to encounter severe turbulence once again, as it started passing through the eyewall for a second time. At 1037, the co-pilot reported a series of muffled snapping noises and then muffled explosions, followed by smoke trailing from the engines and decreased power. At 1037, the pilot shut down the Number 1 (left wing) engine. By 1039 the aircraft had left the eyewall but was still in an area of large disturbances, but the pilots and some passengers could now see black smoke trailing from Number 1 engine which completely obscured it, and thinner smoke trailing from Number 2 engine where propeller blades were reported to be visibly missing of snapped in half. At 1041, Flight 3 decreased in altitude to 1,000 feet and passed over Leeds, where some people thought it sounded like a crashing Spitfire, while others said it sounded like a rapidly decelerating train. At 1044, Flight 3 declared a mayday after the Number 1 engine visibly caught fire. The fire rapidly spread to the whole left wing, causing the aircraft to roll uncontrollably to the left. At 1045 the left wing hit the runway at high speed (estimated 250mph), and the rest of the aircraft rolled over into a field metres to the side of the runway and broke into smaller sections. The plane came to a rest at 1046, and the pilot sent one last message saying mayday! mayday! help *static* left runw-*static*. The cabin crew attempted to evacuate the aircraft, but were unable to in time, as at 1047 the fire flashed over and engulfed the entire aircraft in under a minute. At 1048 fire crews arrived, but could do nothing to save the aircraft. Aftermath The fire brigade were the first to arrive at the scene, at 1048, followed by ambulance crews at 1055 and police at 1058. The fire service doused the flames, but with little effect; most of their water missed the flames anyway, due to high winds. High winds caused flames to spread to an adjacent farmer's field of wheat, starting a wildfire, further hampering recovery. Finally, both the blazing plane and field of wheat were extinguished at 1203, with the help of a particularly severe rainstorm. The aircraft was a hull loss, an estimated 21 tons of wheat had been lost, and the runway would need resurfacing. At 1210 paramedics were given the all-clear to enter the burnt-out wreckage to search for survivors, but none were found - all 78 passengers and crew on board had been killed. Some people were so burnt, it was impossible to tell who it was, and thus some people may not even get proper burials. Leeds International Airport remained closed until the wreckage had been removed and the runway resurfaced. It re-opened on 10 October. Investigation and cause A preliminary report by the American National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) suggests the following: *Structural fatigue, caused by high winds from a hurricane *Engine damage and fire, caused by parts being sucked into them *High winds from a hurricane spreading fire quicker Passengers and crew The aircraft was carrying 70 passengers and 8 crew, which included a pilot, a co-pilot, and 6 cabin crew. Among the 70 passengers were 1 infant, 9 children, 23 women, and 37 men. Of the 8 crew members, 6 were French, 1 was from Leeds, and 1 was from Home. According to an official list released by Leeds Airlines on 7 October 2011, 30 passsengers were French, 20 were from Leeds, 10 were from Home, and 10 were from Auction. They also announced that the family of each victim would recieve £1,000,000 in compensation from Leeds Airlines, giving a total of £78m given out by the company in compensation after the accident. Flight number and other incidents Shortly after the crash, Leeds Airlines changed the number of the regular Leeds-Paris flight from LA3 to LA18. In September 2007, FZ-XZC, the accident aircraft, suffered a nose landing gear collapse after touching down at Frankfurt Airport in Germany while with Lufthansa Citylink. It was operating Lufthansa Citylink Flight 94, from Amsterdam Schipol to Frankfurt. Several people were injured. NTSB ruled out landing gear weakness as a cause, even though it did collapse in the accident. See also *Clarence Hotel disaster *Black Friday